A method is known whereby finely divided aerogel powders are compacted into the cells of a honeycomb-like structure to provide thermal insulation and support for the thin walled membrane of the structure. This method is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,564,547 entitled "HANDLEABLE SHAPES OF THERMAL INSULATION MATERIAL", which lists as the inventor, John T. Hughes, and the assignee as Micropore International, Ltd. and has an issue date of Jan. 14, 1986. This patent is incorporated herein by reference. A further patent which deals with fusing a protective skin on, and forming shapes from, blocks of microporous thermal insulation material, which can be of a powdery consistency and include compacted silica-aerogel particles, is U.S. Pat. No. 4,365,135 entitled "SHAPING OF THERMAL INSULATION MATERIALS", which lists the inventor as, Joseph A. McWilliams, and the assignee as Micropore International, Ltd. and has an issued date of Dec. 21, 1982. This patent is also incorporated herein by reference. As is evident in the Hughes patent, careful attention is paid in the compaction step due to the fact that the aerogel powder contains substantial trapped air and demonstrates a characteristic springiness when forced into a confined area. Hughes for example uses a ram with a porous surface or with apertures provided therethrough in order to allow air to be released as the ram compresses the aerogel into the structure. With compaction however, the aerogel particles are forced closer and closer together allowing for greater heat conduction between particles and between the particles and the supporting structure and thereby reducing the thermal insulation properties of the final material.
The McWilliams patent details using laser cutting operations for obtaining desired shapes of thermal insulation material which, as with Hughes, have been formed by compacting aerogel particles into a handleable block material. Such processes are disadvantageous as there can be substantial waste due to the trimmed portions of the block which are not used, and each additional cutting step must be carried out so as not to substantially disturb the compacted aerogel particles.